And Just Like That... CX and the City Turns One

And just like that, it's been a year since I hosted the first CX and the City dinner! 🎂 The idea was simple: bring together a small group of customer experience leaders over dinner, leave the sales pitches at the door, and create space for honest conversations. One year later, we've hosted seven dinners across three cities, bringing together more than 100 CX leaders from some of the most innovative ecommerce brands.

I expected every dinner to be different. Different industries. Different brands. Different priorities. Instead, I kept hearing the same conversations. No matter who was in the room, the discussions always came back to a handful of familiar challenges. Hosting these dinners has given me a front-row seat to how customer experience is evolving, and more importantly, how the people leading it are thinking about the future. After a year of listening, here are a few things that surprised me.

1. I stopped expecting someone to say, “We've solved that.”

One of the biggest surprises over the past year was realizing how often different brands were wrestling with the exact same challenges. No matter which city we were in, conversations kept circling back to familiar themes: choosing the right helpdesk, managing fraudulent returns and claims, adopting AI thoughtfully, and proving the strategic value of CX across the organization. The details varied, but the themes were remarkably consistent.

It reminded me that customer experience isn't about having all the answers. It's about continuously learning, adapting, and sharing what's working along the way.

2. Customer experience has become everyone's business.

If there was one topic that consistently came up, it was how much broader the role of CX has become. The best customer experiences don't start and end with the support team. They're shaped by operations, logistics, marketing, product, and every interaction a customer has with a brand. Many of the conversations centered around how CX leaders can earn a stronger voice across the business—not because they want a bigger seat at the table, but because they have a unique view of the customer that every team can benefit from. The more I listened, the more I realized that customer experience isn't just another function. It's the thread that connects them all.

3. The most valuable thing in the room wasn't the answers, it was the willingness to share. 💡

The most memorable moments haven't come from polished success stories. They've come from people sharing what they're still figuring out: a pilot that didn't go as planned, an AI rollout that created unexpected challenges, or a process that looked great on paper but fell flat in practice. Almost every dinner had a moment where someone would describe a challenge, and someone else across the table would respond, “We're dealing with the exact same thing.”

Those moments reminded me that one of the most powerful things you can offer another leader isn't a perfect solution—it's the reassurance that they're not navigating these challenges alone. That's the kind of curiosity, honesty, and generosity that makes the CX community so special.

Why I Started CX and the City

One thing I've always loved about the CX community is how willing people are to help one another. The more CX leaders I met, the more I realized there was an appetite for smaller, more thoughtful conversations where people could exchange ideas openly and learn from each other's experiences. That's why I started CX and the City.

My goal has always been simple: if every guest leaves with one new idea they can bring back to their team, one meaningful new connection, or ideally both, then the dinner has been a success. One year later, it's been incredibly rewarding to watch those conversations spark new ideas, lasting relationships, and a growing community of people who genuinely want to help each other build better customer experiences.

Looking Ahead

When I think about the future of CX and the City, I don't think about how many dinners we'll host or how many cities we'll visit. I think about the conversations we'll have. If this past year has taught me anything, it's that the best ideas don't come from having all the answers—they come from bringing the right people together to ask better questions. My hope is that CX and the City continues to be a place where people can exchange ideas, challenge one another, and leave with a fresh perspective, a meaningful new connection, or ideally both.

To every brand, partner, and CX leader who has pulled up a chair over the past year: thank you. Your openness, curiosity, and willingness to share are what make CX and the City what it is. If every guest continues to leave with one new idea, one meaningful new connection, or ideally both, then I'll know we're building exactly what I hoped we would a year ago.

Here's to another year of conversations worth pulling up a chair for. 🥂

Shivani Bala